Conversion to Judaism in America is far
more common than it was in Europe, where such conversions were prohibited by the
Christian churches until the beginning of the 20h century.

There are today about 200,000 “Jews
by Choice” in the United States. They have been converted to Judaism by all
branches of the Jewish religious establishment. The principal reason for such
conversions is intermarriage mostly undertaken by non-Jewish women who seek to
marry a Jewish man. It is of course possible that some converts are convinced of
Jewish teachings and have no motive other than to become a member of our ancient
people.

In order become a Jew it is important
to understand basic Jewish beliefs, including the 13 Principles of the Jewish
faith as proposed by Moses ben Maimon (1135-1204).

These principles are: 1. The
existence of God 2. The unity of God 3. God is a spirit and not human 4. God is
eternal 5. God alone should be worshiped 6. Revelation through God’s prophets
7. Moses the pre-eminent prophet 8. God’s law given on Mt. Sinai 9. The Torah
is the unchanging Law of God 10. God’s foreknowledge of human actions 11.
Reward of good and retribution of evil 12. the coming of the Jewish messiah 13.
The resurrection of the dead.

It is the Jewish view that there is
no trinity but only one God to whom one may pray without any intermediary. There
is no original sin in Judaism but people are free to chose between good and
evil.

Converts will be taught that Judaism allows questioning all spiritual
views and dogmas. Jews are also enjoined to maintain close families and
communities.

Although Judaism is a
Messianic religion, Jews believe that the Messiah (smeared) is a human and not a
god. Judaism also includes all righteous non-Jews in the belief that they too
will be rewarded in “The World to Come”.

Conversion is achieved by
contacting a rabbi, who will assign a course of study and practice of the
rituals such as lighting candles on the arrival of the Sabbath on Friday night,
the use of Tefillin, the placing of a Mezuzah at he doorpost of a house, etc.
Such study usually lasts one year, or it may last longer.

Male converts will be required to undergo
circumcision. Male and female conversion candidates will be asked by a board of
rabbis why they wish to convert, what one has learned, if the candidate is
willing to give up any previous religious beliefs and association, and if the
candidate is willing to follow Jewish law. Finally, the candidate will choose a
Hebrew name and then go to a ritual bath (Mikvah). The Sabbath after the
conversion the new Jew will be called to the Torah (aliyah).

In Israel and in the United States there
has been some controversy concerning the conversion practices of the several
denominations in Judaism. There are almost 500,000 immigrants from the former
Soviet Union in Israel who are not Jewish according to Jewish law. That law
provides that the children of a Jewish mother are Jewish, no matter who the
father. Reform Jews view the children of a Jewish father as Jewish even if the
mother is not Jewish.

Recently a bill was introduced into the
Israeli parliament (Knesset) which is viewed by non-orthodox Jews as favoring
the conversion to Judaism by only the orthodox to the exclusion of conservative,
reform and reconstructionist believers.

Fearing that a law of this kind would damage
relationships between American Jews and Israel, prime minister Netanyahu has
declined to support such a bill. It is feared that a law favoring only orthodox
conversion would alienate the majority of American Jews and threaten the unity
of the Jewish people.

Essentially, the issue remains “who is a
Jew?” That question has never been resolved and therefore it cannot be
determined who needs conversion. For the time being, the controversy has been
sidestepped. Yet, it will be an issue in the Jewish world again and again
because no agreement within the Jewish community has been reachedbetween the Torah true (orthodox) and the other groups in Judaism.

There is of course one definition of a Jew
which has been most effective. That definition is that anyone persecuted for
being a Jew has earned that distinction the hard way. May it never happen again.